Comment 140 – comments and feedback

Lloyd Longfield, MP, Guelph

Thank-you for the work you are doing to establish new electoral boundaries, and in engaging with communities across Ontario. My recommendation is to maintain the boundary of the Guelph EDA as it currently is defined. The delegations last night presented well thought out suggestions that align with my recommendation, and I believe suggestions that would help advance the goal of developing an electoral map that provides the best representation possible for voters following the population growth outlined in the most recent census. I really appreciate the non-partisan approach used in Canada through the establishment of the independent commissions such as yours.

The key elements of the presentations worth your very serious consideration are:

• South Guelph meets the definition of a "community of interest", sharing common experience of living in the community, common elected representatives via mayor and council, and provincial MPP, common property tax, related postal codes, education systems and access to publicly funded programs including social services and infrastructure. South Guelph should remain part of the Guelph EDA based on this.
• The constitutional mandate is to allow for a population of +/- 25% deviation from the 2022 Ontario quota of 116,590 rather than the +/- 10% being used in the first draft of the boundaries. South Guelph should remain part of the Guelph EDA based on the mandated legislation.
• Milton could be divided into Milton North and Milton South with expansions north and south, rather than expanding westward. This would increase representation for Milton without taking South Guelph out of the Guelph EDA.

The House of Commons allocates an extra budget for Guelph based on the population we are serving. This budget translates into an extra half staff member. By managing other budget line items we have been able to add an extra staff member to handle the increased load of serving a larger constituency. Maintaining South Guelph in the Guelph EDA also makes financial sense, and at the same time provides exceptional service to our constituents and voice in Ottawa.

I hope you consider these practical reasons for maintaining Guelph EDA "as is" until we can have a more equitable formula of total seats for Ontario to match our population growth.

Best regards,

Lloyd Longfield,
MP, Guelph